13 army officials brought to ICT

On Sunday morning, 13 officials of the Bangladesh Army were brought to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in two separate cases. 

The plainclothed accused were brought to the tribunal by a green prison van at around 10am amid heightened security in and around the court premises.

There are 17 accused in the enforced disappearances and torture at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell case. While 10 of them were shown to be arrested, the other seven remain fugitives. 

The ones brought to the tribunal are- Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahabub Alam, KM Azad, Abdullah Al Momen, Anwar Latif Khan, Md Moshiur Rahman, Saiful Islam Suman, and Md Sarwar Bin Qashem.

In another case regarding the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), there are 13 accused. Three of them were shown arrested. They are Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, and Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui. The other 10 remain fugitive. 

A large contingent of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Armed Police Battalion (APBN) personnel was deployed surrounding the tribunal area.

On October 22, ICT-1 sent the 13 accused, along with two other army officers, Mohammad Redwanul Islam and Rafat Bin Alam, who are charged in a separate crimes against humanity case, to jail. 

The three-member tribunal, headed by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, also ordered the publication of notices in one English and one Bengali newspaper directing the fugitive accused in the three cases to appear before the court.

Earlier, on October 8, the ICT-1 took cognisance of charges against 30 accused, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in two cases related to enforced disappearances and torture.